July 24th Graduation Album Day [SS] You Who Are Not in the Album

I select one anniversary from those set for each day and deliver a short-short story inspired by that anniversary. Today's chosen anniversary is here.

[What Day Is Today] - Graduation Album Day

This was jointly established by the popular Nippon Cultural Broadcasting program in Tokyo, 'Manatsu Akimoto's Radio Sunday: Searching for Someone Who Might Be in a Graduation Album,' and Daicolo Co., Ltd., which is headquartered in Hirakata City, Osaka Prefecture, and produces about 1 million graduation albums annually.

The date was chosen based on a wordplay reading of 'na(7) tsu(2) ka shi(4) i' (nostalgic).

It is filled with the wish that it will be a day to look back once a year on the 'graduation albums' that capture the memories of days spent in nursery schools, kindergartens, elementary schools, junior high schools, high schools, vocational schools, and universities. The anniversary was certified and registered by the Japan Anniversary Association in 2023 (Reiwa 5).

🌿 Click here for a list of past posts👉 [What Day Is Today SS] List Index

[SS] You Who Are Not in the Album

When I was a second-year high school student, you transferred to our school. With your long black hair and striking white skin, your small face felt dignified. The name Koyuki Shiratori even felt somewhat ephemeral.

"Good morning. I have transferred to this high school due to my father's job transfer. To me, all of you will be important friends in this new place, so I look forward to getting to know you. I would be happy if you felt free to talk to me."

With that greeting, you captivated all the male students in the class. Naturally, the female students were not amused. You became a target of bullying shortly after transferring. However, none of the male students suspected you were being bullied. The group of female students who were bullying you pretended to be your close friends in class, but they would corner you almost every day in the alleyway where you were alone on your way home.

"Koyuki. You're pretty full of yourself, aren't you? Even though you're a transfer student, you've got all the boys in the class looking at you."

"I don't know anything about that. I just moved here and wanted to make more friends."

"Is that so? Well then, we'll be your best friends."

"Really?"

"Really. Hey, everyone. If you do whatever we say, we might be willing to be your friends, right?"

"That's right~" the group members said one after another.

The one doing the cornering was Reika Takara, a leader-type girl among the students who was wealthy, used pocket money unlike a typical high school student, and had several other girls following her. I was watching from the shadows of a building, thinking I would go help if they harassed you any further.

"Hmm. I see. It's not that I will do what you say, but if you do what I say, I might just spare your lives."

"Hah, Koyuki, what are you talking about? Don't you understand your position? There are five of us here."

"I know. I can see that. What can just five of you do? Well, it would be the same no matter how many you brought."

You're really quite cheeky, aren't you?

With those words, Reika and her friends swarmed Koyuki all at once. However, Koyuki spread her arms, floated gracefully into the air, and dodged the attack. Then, the moment her eyes began to turn green, Koyuki slowly clasped her open hands above her head and, as if surrendering her body to gravity, swung her clasped hands down toward the top of Reika's head. With a dull thud, Reika suffered a nosebleed, rolled her eyes back, and collapsed onto the road. Seeing this, her cronies were so terrified that they all fled at once. Koyuki took a pair of scissors from her bag and cut about five centimeters off Reika's hair. Then, she stood up as if nothing had happened.

The boy watching from that corner. I've known you've been watching the whole time. Show your face.

Terrified by Koyuki, whose demeanor had completely changed, I approached her timidly. Without a word, Koyuki used the scissors she was holding to make a cutting motion in the air. Strangely, a rift appeared, and I was pulled by the hand by Koyuki and taken inside the rift. When I came to, I was back to just before Koyuki was accosted by Reika.

I instantly realized my role. Thinking that I had to jump out and stop it before the result I had just seen came to pass, I ran in front of Reika.

Reika. What are you doing? You're ganging up on her with a whole group, aren't you? I saw you.

Ugh, who did I think it was? It's just Taro the coward.

It's not Taro, it's Taiyo.

On this day, because I appeared, Reika gave up and went home. When I realized it, Koyuki had also disappeared. I went home feeling as if I were in a daze and flopped onto the bed in my room. At that moment, Koyuki suddenly appeared right in front of me. As I stood there completely unable to understand the situation, Koyuki began to speak.

I am your descendant. While watching the past for a long time, I saw that you were a very cowardly ancestor, so I came here hoping to make you a little stronger. The girls in your class today are doing whatever they want, aren't they? Starting tomorrow, I'll help you, so let's make it a more comfortable class. Today, I did something a bit rough to let my ancestor know a little bit about my power.

Thus, in my second year of high school, my life changed into a positive one. Well, it's all thanks to my descendant from the future, but thanks to her, I feel like I'll be able to live a life without regrets. I'll be a third-year high school student soon, but Koyuki said she couldn't be in the graduation album, so she returned to the future and disappeared. Of course, my father's job transfer was the reason. Then, I became a university student without incident, and at some point, I started dating Reika. We have even exchanged promises of marriage. Could it be that Koyuki is a descendant of the children of Reika and me? A very complicated feeling is washing over me, but there is no doubt that part of me thinks, 'This was for the best.'

The End

🙇🏻‍♂️Notice
In order to focus on writing medium-length novels and longer, I will be refraining from replying to comments and visiting everyone's notes. Also, I will be refraining from posting anything other than short-shorts for the time being.

🌿[Teriha's Novels] Today's Anniversary SS Collection　　← Creative SS Magazine from Anniversaries

↓↓↓ Click here for the table of contents listed by document ↓↓↓

Thank you for always reading.
If you are new to "Teriha's" note, please also visit this hotel.
🌿Site Map - Otherworldly Hotel Teriha

#ShortShort #CreativeWriting #Novel #Fiction #TodaysAnniversaryShortShort #TodaysAnniversary #ShortStory #UltraShortStory